


Echoes in the Night

by orphan_account



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Demonic Possession, Sans (Undertale) Has Issues, Sans (Undertale) Has Night Terrors, Suicide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-06-23 14:03:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19702849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Something isn't right with the surface, but Sans has other problems to deal with. Frisk tries desperately to become his friend, but he evades every attempt. Underneath it all is the not-so-friendly humans.Rated teen and up due to swearing and suicide content.





	1. Beginnings

Sans watched the sun as it slowly sank below the horizon. Another pacifist run. He wondered how long it would take for this ending to get reset, and whether or not they would choose to do a genocide run. Frisk never seemed sated after the pacifist end.

But this time, Frisk had seemed different. The gender-neutral child had been more muted than normal, choosing to stay with Toriel and becoming the ambassador.

Now that's not normal.

Sans had watched every single reset closely, writing down all that he could remember every time Frisk reset. He even infused the notebook he wrote in with a smudge of magic so he didn't have to rewrite at least six hundred seventy eight or so pages worth of resets. Frisk had never chosen to become the monster ambassador, nevertheless stay with Toriel. Sans knew that Papyrus was curious about why Sans was suddenly keeping a journal when before Frisk had fallen he was too lazy to even get all the stray change out of the couch.

He was pulled from his thoughts as Papyrus approached him. Sans had been so engrossed in waiting for the reset that he didn't notice that the sun has fallen below the horizon, leaving the lands in darkness. "SANS! YOU'VE BEEN STANDING THERE FOR HOURS, YOU LAZYBONES!" he screeched in his usual over-the-top yells. "HUMAN FRISK HAS HELPED US TO MAKE A CAMP! COME ON!"

With that, Papyrus promptly picked up Sans and raced off down the mountain.

Maybe they wouldn't reset this time, thought Sans. Maybe they're finally done.

Even as he though that, Sans felt deep down that those hopeful thoughts were never going to happen.

* * *

  
Sans wasn't sure what ticked him off the the danger. Maybe it was the fact that the sounds of rustling drifted into his senses when there was no wind. Maybe it was the sound of whispering of voices that weren't his friends, or Frisk.  
  
He didn't consider Frisk a friend.  
  
They were all sitting around a campfire, the leaping flames keeping the chilled air at bay.

Toriel was the first to notice how Sans's shoulders were tensed up, and the atmosphere of ready magic that surrounded him.  
  
"You seem tense," Toriel offered. "Is something bothering you?"  
  
Sans stopped himself from looking around. "nah. i'm just one lazybones, relaxing like any other."  
  
Papyrus frowned at him. "YOU'VE BEEN LOOKING AROUND LIKE YOU'RE GOING TO BE ATTACKED FOR THE PAST HOUR."   
  
Papyrus is more observant than you might think.  
  
"C'mon punk!" Undyne said, pounding her chest. "Nothing's gonna jump outta the bushes at you!"  
  
Sans let his signature fake smile spread across his face. "yeah." He paused for a little, before saying, "welp, a lazybones like me needs sleep. m'off to bed." Standing up, he dusted off his shorts and shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. "don't forget to go to bed, papyrus."  
  
The walk over to the tent was a short one, but even so Sans shortcutted onto the sparse bedding. He shifted around before finding a comfortable position and closed his eyesockets, the time-weary skeleton slipping into sleep. 

* * *

  
"You've forgotten to go to bed before?" Undyne questioned Papyrus, who shifted.   
  
"ONLY ONCE!. . . TWICE!. . .OKAY, MORE LIKE seventeen." His voice quieted down considerably, to what Papyrus might consider a mumble but what the others all thought of as simply a normal level of volume.   
  
"Seventeen times?" giggled Frisk, pulling on one of Asgore's fingers. "That's more times than I've tried to make a garden." Frisk frowned. "The plants always wither within a few days of planting them."  
  
Asgore patted The small child's head. "I can help you with that, little one. Perhaps your problem was the soil."  
  
Papyrus's attention shifted from the conversation as he caught a shift in the corner of his eyesocket. he thought it was just the long grasses swaying in the wind, but the movement wasn't a gently back-and-forth. His attention zoned back in as Undyne shouted "NGAAAAHHHHHHH!" and lifted Alphys over her head.  
  
Alphys looked petrified, her tail wrapping around her legs. "Eep!" she squeaked out. "U-undyne! w-" Her words were cut off as Undyne spun her around and pulled the little yellow lizard into a tight hug.   
  
The rest of the night slipped away after Papyrus went to bed, only pausing between getting up and lying down to duck into the tent and gently place a blanket over Sans.

* * *

  
_Sans pushed off from the golden pillar he was leaning on. The kid was coming, he knew. The sound of the little demon's footsteps reached his senses. He stepped out into the middle of the hall, watching the dust-coated Frisk approach._  
  
_"let's just get to the point."_

_The fight didn't last long. The demon seemed to know all of his patterns. Even when he gave it his all, the child never even took a single hit.  
_

_Sans couldn't move. He had just finished his turn, and he knew he had to dodge - but his limbs wouldn't move._  
  
The demon spoke. Their voice wasn't like Frisk's at all, instead a demonic edge to the unmistakable female tint to it. " **It's useless to struggle, Comedian.** " She drawled. " **You can't ever escape me."** a manic laugh tore from her lips. " **I'm torturing you inside your own mind!** "  
  
_Sans's soul was beating inside his chest. Of course it was a dream, of course his mind would create this creature that looked like Frisk. To make him suffer the genocide route._  
  
_By now blood was dripping down the pillars. At the top of each, instead of the roof it was Frisk's disjointed face, stretched thin to create the roof. The demon continued on before Sans could speak. "_ **Oh, Comedian. How long have you thought I've be gone?** " A smirk curled the face. it was slowly shifting, become paler and with rosier cheeks. " **A few days? Maybe a week?** "  
  
_A flinch twitched Sans as Chara_ _placed the tip of their knife to where an invisible scar lay, that Sans swore he could feel every time he touched his sternum. " **I'm**_ **n** **ever** _**gone, Comedian.** "_  
  
_By now the blood dripping was more of a constant flow, the surprisingly gritty substance soaking through his slippers and socks. The iron smell made Sans want to heave. It reached just over his smallest toe bone, but the flow was getting stronger all the while._  
  
_" **Aw, Does the little skele want to run away?** " She said with mock sympathy. _  
  
_"go to hell." Sans gasped out, the terror making it near impossible to breathe. Contrary to popular belief, Skeletons like him and Papyrus needed to breathe. Despite the fact that there were no other skeletons._  
  
_Chara lifted the knife away from Sans, letting him breathe a bit easier. " **Hmmm, To kill the Comedian myself or leave him to his suffering. . .** " _  
  
_Without another word, Chara vanished and the blood flow increased tenfold. Within thirty seconds it was up to Sans's waist._  
  
_Suddenly able to move, Sans gasped and nearly fell over into the ever-rising blood. "it's just a dream, it's just a dream, it's just a dream, it'sjustadreamit'sjustadream." Sans repeated the phrase, but never truly believed it as the red liquid reached his chin._

  
_In under a minute since Chara vanished, Sans was forced to kick off the ground and swim in the blood, but even as he kicked his legs, Sans felt the fluid crawling up his face._  
  
_He should have taken those swimming lessons with Papy._  
  
_When the ever-present blood closed over Sans's head, he struggled until he gasped and choked horribly on the thick red substance. It covered every inch of his bones, soaked into his clothing and dragged him lower and lower. He tried to refrain from inhaling, but soon he was inhaling more blood than he managed to cough out._  
  



	2. Troubles

Papyrus wasn't sure what woke him up. That was, until he registered the hacking coughs from beside him. Without a thought, Papyrus swung his legs over the edge of the cot and almost tripped over his brother, who looked as if he had rolled the good foot from his cot over to Papyrus's. The horrid coughing sound was coming from Sans himself. Even as Papyrus leaned down to help another round gripped the small skeleton and in the dark Papyrus could see that droplets of scarlet flew from his mouth as he did so.

"SANS!" Papyrus cried, most definitely waking up everyone else in the campsite. He could only assume that Sans was having a nightmare, but never once has Sans _coughed up blood_ during one. Maybe they were more serious than he thought, draining more than just his sleep. If so, then Sans was a serious risk of dusting right then and there. He should get Alphys. Yes. Alphys can fix him.  
  
Papyrus sucked in a big breath and wiped the sweat from Sans's head, pulling the still heaving skeleton into his arms. Standing up rapidly, Papyrus's head bent the roof of the tent before he bent down again and slipped into the cold night air.   
  
Sans's constant cough was a background noise to the bustling that filled the camp. Papyrus had been right about waking everyone up. He practically ran towards Alphys's tent, yelling. "ALPHYS! ALPHYS! SANS WON'T STOP COUGHING AND HE'S ALSO COUGHING RED STUFF AND AND AND!!! AND!!!"   
  
It seemed that the activity increased significantly and when Papyrus reached the tent it seemed everyone emerged from their own tents. Well, Asgore didn't emerge so much so as explode out of his tent in a way.  
  
Alphys was the first to reach Papyrus, Him running towards the little yellow lizard after all. "C-coughing red s-stuff?" Alphys stuttered out. "T-try, uh. . ." She trailed off, looking at the skeleton in Papyrus's arms before stumbling over her words for a moment and gesturing for Papyrus to put Sans down.   
  
As soon as Papyrus obliged and gently set Sans on the ground, Alphys bent over and flipped Sans onto his back. She half-poked one of his ribs before rubbing circles on Sans's back and asking Papyrus to bring Sans into her tent.   
  
"I-It'd be e-easier to work w-without being w-watched," Alphys told Papyrus. "A-and I'm not a d-doctor, so I d-don't know how m-much I c-can help."  
  
Papyrus shifted his feet, waiting outside the tent. The coughing had stopped, and most everyone else had gone back to bed by this point, but Papyrus would wait to see if Sans needed help or comfort or dear god, just let me get to my brother!  
  
When the sun started to rise in the east, Papyrus had nodded off next to the embers of the fire.

* * *

Sans wasn't sure where he was. A heavy feeling filled his limbs, laced with a faint ache in his throat and chest. Was he back in Snowdin. . .? No, it was too warm to be Snowdin. He lay there, wondering where he was, before it clicked in Sans's mind that he was on the surface. He expected to be back in the underground by now.  
  
Then the taste of blood in his mouth reminded him of his dream, and Sans rocketed up and over the edge of the cot, noisily emptying the contents of his non-existent stomach.

The taste of blood remained, not to mention the fact that was what was pooled on the floor.  
  
Sans took one look and then muttered, "what, so my dreams are blending with reality now?"  
  
He wiped his mouth and took a minute to realize he was inside of Alphys's tent. The Scientist wasn't anywhere to be seen, but from the look of things she had recently left, with the cold air still flowing through the thin walls.  
  
Standing from the cot, Sans tried to get the taste of blood out of his mouth by swallowing, but to no avail.  
  
Then his mind processed that the blood might be his, and Sans held out his hand to see his HP.  
  
.02/1.  
  
oh joy.  
  
Heaving a sigh, Sans dug through his jacket pockets and found nothing. "papyrusss," Sans hissed under his breath. "you took my ketchup again, didn't you?"  
  
The last part was directed at his brother as he shortcutted to stand next to the slumped figure, who turned in surprise and jumped up.  
  
"SANS!" Papyrus cheered, quickly gathering his brother into a crushing hug.   
  
"ribs, ribs!" sans grunted out, but patting Papyrus's back all the same. "i'm fine."  
  
Papyrus frowned at Sans, holding him up with his hands in Sans's armpits. "I WILL CHECK YOU JUST TO BE SURE."  
  
"pap, you really don-" He was cut off by Papyrus holding Sans higher and commencing the check.   
  
Papyrus freaked, to say the least.  
  
Or, well, he ran around tearing apart the camp looking for healing items that no one had, because why would they need healing items on the surface? everything was supposed to be goody two-shoes.  
  
Toriel finally managed to calm down the frantic skeleton by picking up Sans, much like a child to his embarrassment, and placing one of her hands on his ribcage. "Papyrus! I can heal him, please settle down."  
  
Papyrus scooted over to watch Toriel heal Sans, a frown creasing his skull the entire time. Sans himself let out a silent sigh as the warmth of the healing magic wove its was all the way down to his soul, curling around his bones and easing the pain until his HP was full at 1/1.  
  
"Friend, I did not know you only have a single HP." Toriel said, letting Sans to the ground. "You should have let us all know sooner."  
  
Sans shifted, wondering whether to try shortcutting away before too many questions were asked. "'s not the first thing i tell others."  
  
He didn't like all the attention. Sure, he was a punny guy, but that didn't mean he liked being the center of attention. Sans was much too lazy.  
  
Or he liked to think he was, anyways.   
  
Frisk ran over to them, almost hugging Sans but being stopped by the fierce look he gave them. "I'm, uh, glad you're okay!" Frisk beamed at him. "You scared everyone when you started coughing up blood last night."  
  
"w-" Sans started, then stopped. No wonder he could taste the blood from his nightmare. He was coughing it up. "uh, yeah, that isn't uh, that big of a problem."  
  
The doubtful faces from everyone around him told Sans that they didn't believe him. ". . .uh, well, imma just go. . . laze around in the forest. . ." He said, pointing a thumb over his shoulder and breaking the heavy silence.   
  
Papyrus was the first to grasp at what that meant. "SANS, DON'T YOU DARE!" he warned.  
  
"i dare."  
  
He teleported away.

* * *

Frisk stared at the spot Sans was just in. It doesn't seem how many pacifist runs they did, Sans was always just as. . . well, the easiest way to say it is unfriendly, borderline mean, to Frisk.  
  
Maybe doing Twenty-seven genocide runs in a row was a bad idea.  
  
Well, technically, Frisk had only committed to a single genocide run before they wanted to stop. Chara had other Idea's for their SOUL. So they did twenty seven. Frisk was thinking that they'd be doing genocide until the RESET button broke, but then Chara had just. . . vanished. Then they did this run to make up for it.  
  
Frisk didn't plan on resetting this time around, but maybe they should. Heck, they might finally choose a gender.  
  
. . . Maybe not that last bit.  
  
Letting out a breath, Frisk slumped by the fire pit. "I don't get why he doesn't like me."  
  
Toriel placed a fuzzy hand on Frisk's shoulder. "Sans doesn't usually strike me as the type to dislike someone who's helped them several times."  
  
They looked up, a frown creasing their face. "But he doesn't like _me._ No matter how much I try and be his friend that skeleton gives me that look and finds something to do away from me."  
  
The fuzzy goat mom shrugged, opened her mouth to say something, and was cut off by Papyrus throwing a fit at Undyne about his brother.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OHKAY here's your next Chooptrr!11!!!!1!!!!!11111!1!!!!! lol things are gonna get a whole lot rockier after dis point


	3. Human Problems

Sans let out a breath from the tree branch he was standing on. Having lived through this reset multiple times, he was already well acquainted with the surface world. well, not so much familiar but the fact that he had drawn a detailed map in his journal one of the resets and he still flipped through to look at it.  
  
Glancing down at the ground, Sans judged the distance before popping down and starting to walk in a random direction. If he got lost, it didn't matter. All he had to do was shortcut down to the river and follow it up to reach the mountain.   
  
He hardly noticed when the ground became more even, but he did notice when something hard and circular was pushed against his skull, rather uncomfortably. He was confused about it and stopped to turn and look at the source, before a clear, yet young voice, said, "Don't move unless you want a bullet in your skull. State your name and what you are doing so close to the military camp."  
  
Military camp.  
  
Bullet.  
  
The human had a gun to his skull.  
  
Sans stopped moving as soon as the voice spoke, but now he removed his hands from his pockets and slowly held them up into the air. "no need ta shoot, kiddo." He said, keeping an even edge to his voice even though his soul was beating so fast that Sans though his magic was going to drip from his fingertips.   
  
He could feel his eyelights go out as they grabbed one of his hands and jerked it behind his back, lowering the gun and grabbing his other arm. Sans had to stop himself from throwing a bone at the kid, but it wouldn't do much but aggravate the man. Damn, sometimes being unable to kill in a single hit sucks.  
  
Sans did shift his feet as something clicked around his wrists, and it took a moment before he realized that they were handcuffs.  
  
Maybe he should have thrown that bone.  
  
He didn't realize that his eye was alight until a fierce sting made him flinch, and the sting continued to drip down his face, and a soft cyan glow was visible to him. His first instinct was to reach up and wipe away the offending magic, but the cuffs prevented him. of course, he still pulled on them from instinct. The man behind him didn't say anything, but there was a prod to his skull and Sans started to walk.  
  
They were walking for a good ten minutes before the camp came into view. Sans let out a breath, fingers and hands still twitching at the pain on his face. The Human made no comment on it however, simply herding Sans on.   
  
The camp itself was rather small, only about ten to twenty tents with a central command and something like cages by the western edge. The human led Sans towards the cages, calling greetings towards other soldiers as they passed.   
  
When they reached the cages, Sans finally turned to the human prodding him. "hey bud, I really gotta be gettin back to-" He was silenced by the young man's dark eyes narrowing and Sans getting spun around, the handcuffs being released and Sans shoved into the cage.  
  
Rude.  
  
A huff escaped the skeleton as he rubbed where his skull had collided with the packed dirt that made up the floor or the cage. He was also finally able to wipe the offending magic drip from his face, though there was a spot on Sans's eye where the magic had dried and couldn't be scraped off without water. It still stung like hell, though.  
  
Sans watched the soldier lock the door and stand guard, letting out a huff. "well, that's a thing." he muttered to himself, sitting cross-legged on the dirt.   
  
"guess that we're playing the waiting game, eh?" Sans spoke up to talk to the guard, before laying back against the bars and closing his eye sockets.   
  
Time to do a bit of waiting.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this took way too long for how short it is, but the next few chapters will focus solely on Snas boii


	4. Uh-Oh

_Sans was back in that horrid hall again. Chara was no where in sight, and the roof seemed intact, no faces or stretched skin to create it this time. He let out a breath. "so. . . not a nightmare then?" He questioned cautiously, walking to the end of the hall. He paused for a moment, before quickly popping into his room. He felt the magic drain that was normal for such a long teleport, and he almost fell over._  
  
_Shaking himself slightly, Sans allowed his legs to stop shaking before walking from the couch to the door. He'd exist before seeing the paper pinned to it and pick it up to read it._  
  
_~~To brother~~_  
 _~~Pick up your sock!!!~~_  
 _Sans._  
 _It has come to my attention that a very mean human has been wandering through snowdin forest._  
 _Never fear, for the Great Papyrus has gone to stop them!!_  
 _Please stay safe brother. It would do no good for you to be killed by the human!!!_  
 _Love,_  
 _Papyrus._  
  
_Sans didn't read the last sentence. he was already running towards the intersection, his slippered feet crunching in the snow and throwing up puffs behind him. Sans seemed to have forgotten he could teleport._  
  
_So close. Sans was almost there. Just a few more feet before he would be there and kill the human and **save Papyrus** -_  
  
_He was too late._  
  
_Sans heard the slash, the sickening sound of the dull knife cutting through the bones that made up a skeleton's entire being._  
  
_He didn't want to hear Papyrus's last words to the human. Sans covered his Ossicles and curled into a ball for a minute until he felt it was all over._  
  
_The world was falling, and suddenly Sans was back in the judgement hall._  
  
_But this time,_ **they** were here.  
  
_" **Oh,**_ ** _Comedian,_** _" C_ _hara would chuckle. "_ **You never change, do you?** "  
  
" **Even torturing you every night. . . Showing you your dead brother, your dying brother, your failures, you refuse to break. . .** "  
  
_Silence. Sans didn't want to look up, to see those rosy cheeks or that dark hair and unblinking eyes._  
  
" **It would be a waste to put this to the side, Dear Comedian.** "  
  
_Sans curled into a tighter ball, breath catching in his non-existent_ throat.  
  
" **Keep on watching for me, Comedian. You won't know what's happened until it has.** "  
  
_Sans shook, his fingers clawing a gouge in his bone until he couldn't stand it anymore and stood up, looking at the Judgement hall. . . which had become all shades of blue, black, red, and green._  
  
_"what the hell?" Sans asked, only to slip on something that wasn't there and plunge into a never-ending darkness._

* * *

Sans woke up to something akin to a smaller cell, his skull slamming uncomfortable against a low metal roof when he tried to stand. He cussed and lay back to lean on the rumbling wall. Actually, it seemed the entire cell was rumbling. Sans could hear the guttural roar and rumbling all around him, and it have him a headache that wouldn't go away. Well, that or his skull ached from slamming into the floor.  
  
It was also much too dark to see anything. Sans contemplated lighting his eye up, but there was still that sting that told him the stuck-on magic was still eating away at his eye, so Sans was stuck in the dark for now. Maybe sleeping would help pass the time, discounting the point that he had just woken up.  
  
From a nightmare, though.  
  
Sans didn't want to have another nightmare.   
  
Sure this recent nightmare was a mild one to his standards, but Sans still didn't want to risk dreaming again.   
  
Settling down, Sans accepted himself to the mercy of the bumping ride. Maybe ten minutes into it he became increasingly queasy. Sans didn't know why, but he did know that he really, really wanted out from there.  
  
The time in the cell grew longer and longer. Sans would curl into the corner and try not to throw up. maybe it'd be better if he could see the sky or something that wasn't just _darkness_ , but that wasn't possible at the moment.  
  
He didn't make it.   
  
Sans had been in the cell for about three and a half hours before his magic was like, _No, fuck you, I refuse to be squished like this_ , and Sans threw up.  
  
The glowing liquid that Sans's magic created was more than enough for his eyesockets to see by, used to the darkness of the underground. The cell was indeed made from metal, but it appeared that the top was made out of wood.   
  
Finally, almost five hours later, the rumbling stopped and Sans's stomach was put at ease.  
  
He narrowed his eyesockets when light suddenly flooded the dark space he was stuck in. holding up a hand, Sans pushed back into a corner away from it. A laugh came from in front of him, and Sans was yanked from the cell and thrown onto the hard-pressed dirt he could only assume was a road.   
  
Scrambling upright, Sans threw a wall of bones out and at the one next to who had pulled him out.   
  
The sound of bones meeting flesh filled the air and Sans felt the flood of power that he only ever knew on the genocide route.  
  
**_You've taken the first step, comedian._**  
  
Shouts echoed around Sans, but he could only stare.  
  
A gray-blue soul of patience floated in front of him, and Sans subconsciously stored it in his jacket. Reaching out, he checked his stats.  
  
SANS  
Atk 1  
Def 0  
5/5 HP  
  
...LV 13.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow this took less time than I thought it would lol  
> but I guess it is kinda shor t


	5. Dusting

Even as the sounds of yelling flitted back into Sans's focus, he had teleported as far away as his stamina would allow. Having recent expelled magic recently, that distance wasn't very much. Only enough to get him about a mile away in any one direction.   
  
He'd look around slightly, breathing heavily, before looking at the mountain and beginning to sprint towards it, silently hoping that Sans wasn't sprinting towards the military camp.   
  
The time Sans was sprinting wasn't a long one, but he felt it was long enough to get himself out of danger.  
  
All the yelling wasn't able to be heard anymore, too.  
  
Sans remembered the SOUL he had stored in his jacket and he took out out to look at the dull gray-blue surface.  
  
"i didn't mean to kill ya, buddy." Sans said quietly, hoping that the human could hear him. "it was an accident. honest."  
  
"i'm not like **her**."  
  
Sans stared at the SOUL, letting his stamina regenerate, wishing that Papyrus would come charging out of the woods and save Sans from his current predicament. There was a time, once, where if he just waited long enough Papyrus would come tramping through the snow and take Sans home is he exhausted himself too much, but Sans didn't know how far away from the camp he was, or even what direction it was in. Sans couldn't even see the mountain.  
  
Standing up, Sans grunted slightly and started walking away from where he knew the military camp was. Hopefully, Sans reasoned, he could find a town or something and ask where Ebott was.  
  
The minutes spent walking stretched into hours. Sans was sure that eventually he'd have to run into _something._  
  
  
At least, someone.  
  
Or something to eat.  
  
A town.  
  
But Sans didn't run into anything as night fell, and he was certain that he wouldn't by the time the sun began to rise. He was shaking, physically and mentally exhausted from trekking through forest and over small streams.  
  
why was the surface so _big_?  
  
At day number three of going at this pace, Sans was running on a bit less than fumes. That was to say, he was constantly swaying on his feet and relying on the energies of the soul he held above his hand to help him not run into anymore more than his actual sight. His magic reserves were already at rock bottom, and even lower was his hope. Not HOPE, but hope.   
  
Sans was loosing the will to keep walking, and he'd only been walking for three and a half days. Granted, without any stops or sleep, but. . .  
  
Maybe sleeping would be a good idea. Then he'd have at least a bit more magic.  
  
His mind made up, Sans finally stopped the constant shuffling of his feet and glared around groggily until he just flopped against the side of some tree and closed his eyesockets. He didn't even store away the soul.  


* * *

When Sans woke up, he knew that he had to get up, but he really didn't want to open his eyesockets. They felt heavy and his limbs wouldn't react to his commands, no matter how hard he tried.  
  
Sans didn't even worry about that, simply fade back to sleep.  
  
The next time he woke up Sans was able to get up without a hitch. A stretch popped most of his joints and he called the soul to him with blue magic. "Ready for nothing." He said, rather drearily.  
  
"Time for more walking."  
  
Sans started off, wondering how his legs could hurt so much after walking for ten minutes when he realized that the sun was setting behind him.  
  
That explains a lot.  
  
Instead of settling down for the night again, Sans did a stupid and just kept walking. His magic was already wavering but the added stress of walking for another two days made it plummet again.  
  
He didn't even care that he was probably going to die going at this pace. He'd probably have woken up in snowdin tomorrow anyways.  
  
Day number four after stopping to sleep, Sans had stored away the soul from the sheer effort of keeping it suspended with blue magic.  
  
Day Number five, and he tripped over a tree root and didn't stand back up. he didn't even close his eye sockets as he watched the hand next to him slowly start turning to dust.  
  
Heheh. . . Guess he'd be back in snowdin sooner than he thought.  
  
He watched until his arm was gone, blown away in the wind. He could feel that his legs were gone as well, and his skull was starting to go numb. It was a strangely peaceful feeling, dying without a jagged wound being cut into his chest. He could even swear that Papyrus was shaking at his shoulder, telling him to stop slacking off and go to his sentry station.  
  
Then He couldn't swear anymore, because Sans was a pile of dust.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE STORY. 
> 
> I just couldn't find any other natural stop point in what I have in my brain.


	6. A sudden realization.

The first thing Sans realized when he was well enough in his own mind was that he was alive. He could feel in hunger gnawing away at magic reserves Sans didn't know he had,his mind still muddled and thinking he hadn't watched himself turn to dust and that he was still laying in the forest, separated from everyone. At least, until he got a better grip on himself.  
  
He'd pry open his eyesockets to see that there was a tent over him.  
  
Was he back in the military camp?  
  
With a shudder, Sans pulled the blanket higher over himself before it seemed to click with him.   
  
Sans was back in a tent, with a blanket that was deemed unnecessary by Sans due to his jacket, and Sans knew a certain yellow lizard that was over-compensatory when it came to regulating body heat.   
  
Throwing the blanket off, Sans quickly sat up and looked around closer.  
  
No, this was definitely Alphys's tent. Sans let out a sigh before letting the cogs of his mind turn faster.  
  
If he was in Alphys's tent, then that bedamned human must have done something to the timeline. Again.  
  
But he could tell they were still on the surface, if only just because of the light filtering through the thin cloth that made up the tent, coupled with the quiet conversation Sans could hear outside.   
  
Letting his legs hand over the side of the cot, Sans realized something.  
  
That his jacket was still zipped up.  
  
Sans, fearing what he was going to see, unzipped it.  
  
The soul was still there.  
  
Not wanting to believe it, Sans threw out his left hand, if only to check his stats.  
  
SANS  
Atk 1  
Def 0  
0.2/5 HP  
LV 13  
  
"fuck!" Sans swore aloud, storing away the soul and shoving his hands into his jacket pockets with more force than was likely necessary. He could feel himself shaking.  
  
For some reason, talking aloud helped to calm him, and he ignored that he couldn't hear the sounds from outside the tent anymore. He kept his voice to a mutter, though. "why do i still have thirteen love?!" Sans questioned himself. "something's obviously happened to the timeline, but here i am with a goddamned human soul and thirteen love just after leaving the fucking underground!"  
  
Sans turned, beginning to pace. "this was supposed to be the 'happy ending'." He smacked his soul with his hand. "the human can't e-"  
  
He was cut off by Alphys bustling her way into the tent, looking concerned. "S-sans? I'm g-glad you're awake!" She hurriedly said, already stumbling over her words. "B-but, uh, w-we, uh, h-heard you c-cuss? Loudly? A-and! T-toriel didn't like it???"  
  
Silence stretched between them before Sans avoided the question altogether and asked, "got any grub on you?" blatantly ignoring the fact that Alphys was well aware of his not-so-skillful deflection.  
  
"Y-yeah, If you l-like, u-uh, Monster c-candies." Alphys held out the said candy, claws twitching.  
  
"thanks, alph," Sans replied, taking the candy and popping it in his mouth. He said nothing as the magic in the food replenished his stores, but Sans was still burning with hunger and the weight of that patience soul housed in the right side of his ribcage was getting to him. "imma go to grillby's."  
  
He was about to walk away when Alphys suddenly grabbed his face and pulled it closer to his own, apparently studying his eyesocket. "uh? alph?" Sans questioned, trying to pull away. Alphys's grip was surprisingly firm, however. "mind. . . letting me go?"  
  
Sans was only released after Alphys was done. "Sans," she questioned slowly, before tapping a sop on his face, "When did y-you get that nick under your e-eye socket?"  
  
That got an immediate reaction. Sans would shove Alphys away, his eye alight as he wiped away and magic that could leak out of his eye before it had a change to spring out. "none of yer buisness!" He said, a little more fiercely than was strictly necessary. Sans exited the tent and side-stepped any attempt from his friends to say something by holding up a hand and starting to walk towards the mountain.  
  
"SANS? SANS, COME BACK!"   
  
Sans pulled his hood up while he walked, using his lingering hand to feel the nick Alphys had mentioned. It stretched about three centimeters down from his eyes, and Sans winced when his fingers touched the sore bone.   
  
Sans could sense someone running up to him, and he prepared to shortcut away before they had a chance to catch him.  
  
A bit to late, seeing as a hand that wasn't Papyrus's grabbed his just before he shortcutted away to the entrance to the underground.   
  
When he turned to see who it was, his soul lurched as Frisk stared back at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO I PRESSED POST INSTEAD OF SAVE WITHOUT POSTING SO HAVE AN UNFINISHED CHAPTER THEN HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH  
> i'll explain what happened in the next chapter ;P
> 
> right now it is time for
> 
> S L E E P


	7. I'm going to Grillby's

The first thing Frisk thought when they recovered from the lengthy shortcut was pure panic. Sans had a blaster aimed at them, and the beast's skull was already open and charged, ready to be fired. "Calm!" Frisk yelped, holding up their hands. "I know you hate my guts, but don't blast me!"  
  
Frisk silently ran a check, which turned out not so silently as Sans fired the blaster and Frisk hardly managed to jump out of the way.  
  
Sans  
Atk 1 Def 0  
*The weakest enemy.  
*Or he used to be.  
  
Frisk hummed over the basic stats and ran the check deeper, ignoring the growl that came from Sans.  
  
HP 5/5  
LV 13  
Armor: Old Jacket  
Weapon: N/A  
  
A frown creased their face, studying the thing. Sans shifted on the spot, the blaster still floating besides him.  
  
"When. . . When did you get 13 LOVE?" Frisk asked after a pause. "Was it after the glitch?"  
  
A moment of silence passed through the tense air. Sans seemed to turn the information over in his head before something clicked. "you mean you weren't responsible for the partial reset?"  
  
Frisk narrowed their already narrow eyes. "If that's what you call it, then yes." They flared their hands. "I can only do a true RESET after we all leave the underground."  
  
Of course Sans would know what Frisk was talking about. Before the genocide runs, Frisk and Sans had actually been close friends. The only thing Sans had known of the true RESETs before that talk is when they went all the way back to the start. That talk had been very informative to Sans, but of course the genocides had ruined everything.  
  
Sans grunted, idly scratching his skull. To Frisk, he seemed pretty much done with the conversation. "mm, well, i guess it'll remained unsolved."  
  
Frisk grinned half-heartedly at Sans. It had been a long time since they'd had a conversation that lasted this long, at least without any of the other monsters around. Frisk was going to say something more when Sans said, "welp, i'm going to grillby's."  
  
"Can I come?"  
  
"no."  
  
Before Frisk could possibly grab Sans's hand or shoulder or something, he had popped away from the child.  
  
Frisk huffed, crossing their arms. "Well, I don't feel like walking all the way back down the mountain."

* * *

Sans huffed out a relieved breath when his slippers crunched down in Snowdin, the sounds of monsters getting ready to get to the surface filling his ears. He was used to it by now, though the sound still made him angry to a small degree. All of these monsters, full of hope after the barrier being broken. Little did anyone around him know, that the barrier would come back, and all their memories wiped.  
  
Letting out a sigh, Sans started the short walk to Grillby's. He was still starving, even after the glitch in time. Sans was also wondering why the damage done to his body wasn't gone either. After all, the damage to his eye socket was still there, but the stubborn magic expanding it was gone. The soul was still with him as well, and Sans still had the LV gained from the accidental kill. "hey, gang." Sans greeted as he walked into Grillby's. He wasn't surprised to see Greater Dog and Drunk Bunny sitting in their usual places. Red Bird was still there, and Fisher Bird was supporting Red like normal as they talked about either fishing or something else that was equally unimportant. Grillby was cleaning the counter top, the rag only slightly charred due to his bright form.   
  
The bar greeted Sans back, Though the normally silent Grillby was still quiet. Sans wandered over to his usual seat, his grin stretched out and tense. Sitting, he leaned lazily over the bar. "heya. grillbs. can ya get me a thing o fries?"  
  
Grillby hummed and went to get Sans's food. Sans crossed his arms on the counter and lay his head into them, letting his smile fall into more of a line. He allowed his thoughts to wander, knowing that the others would likely think that Sans had fallen asleep. _I died._ Was the first thing he thought. _and then the glitch in time happened. It wasn't a true reset in any shape or fo rm, since all the monsters are still able to head to the surface when they're ready._ Sans shifted, shrugging his jacket higher onto his shoulders. _I d i e d._ He realized.  
  
_What if i'm the reason for the glitch in time?_

Sans jumped when something was placed in front of him, the item gently pushed against his skull. He shot up like an arrow, his smile being forced onto his face and bigger than it would be even if Sans wasn't forcing it. " _You got fries,_ " The barkeeper gently reminded the skeleton. " _. . . are you alright, Sans?_ "  
  
The sound of his name jerked Sans out of the memories he had been pulled into. "huh? oh. . .uh, yeah, yeah i'm aight." He reached forward and stuffed a handful of fries into his mouth. "just over the hills and _fire_ away." The resulting soft groan from Grillby made Sans grin. He looked up slowly to meet Grillby's gaze after the fire monster didn't attempt to pun back and was met with Grillby a few centimeters away from his face. "uh. . . grillbs?"  
  
Sans flinched slightly as Grillby reached out to touch is face, asking quietly, " _Sans. . . When did you get that nick under your eye?_ "  
  
He had to force himself not to pull away immediately. Sans did pull away after hearing a small whisper in his ossicle. **_My friends keep telling me to stop stealing the kitchenwear._**  
  
In fact, Sans did more than pull away. He jerked back so hard that he tumbled off of the stool and onto the floor. Sans's eyelights searched wildly for the ghost he knew was there as he scrambled wildly backwards until he ran into a wall.

There was a general clamor around Sans, but he didn't hear it. Sans's gaze was locked onto the slightly transparent child that had formed in front of him. Chara smiled down at Sans, leaned over him. **_Heya, Sansy~_**   
  
"ghhnk-" Sans whimpered, trying to push the warm hands that wrapped around him away even though Chara was still leaning over him. "n-no, y-you're just a d-d-dream. a b-bad d-dream!"  
  
A shudder passed through Sans as Chara reached down to gently stroke Sans's skull with their ethereal fingers. **_Oh Sansy, Since when have I been a dream~?_**  
  
Chara slipped forward to pick up Sans light frame, and Sans made the most aggressive noise he could and struggled to punch and kick at the ghost holding Sans. It seemed that Chara gripped Sans tighter, as Sans could no longer see anything due to his eyelights being gone.   
  
It seemed like forever until the living nightmare was over. He waited until the childish giggling that always came with Chara's presence was gone before slowly gripping at the shirt of whoever was holding him and struggled to summon his eyelights again.   
  
He found himself cuddled up to Grillby's chest, settled on his lap in one of the booths furthest from the door. He was being held akin to a baby, his small stature making it easy enough for Grillby to do.  
  
Sans found that he didn't feel like the rattling of his bones would make him fall apart. "g-grillbs?" he muttered quietly. "g-grillbs-" He found that he couldn't finish the sentence, finding his magic once again flatlined to rock bottom and not having enough to talk all that clearly.  
  
Of course, part of having rock bottom magic is extreme exhaustion, and Grillby just happened to be extremely comfortable. So Sans fell asleep before even hearing whatever Grillby was saying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did say I would explain wouldn't I  
> ok  
> So basically Chara was the reason Frisk was able to reset. Their DT combined was more than enough. Flowey could RESET because Chara would trail them, and now Sans holds the ability for a partial reset
> 
> Because Sans in a monster, he doesn't have very much DT, though he does have more than any other monster other than Undyne before she melts. However, he hardly has enough to do the Partial RESET, and he is unable to summon the button. His RESETS affect everyone but himself and the memories of other anomalies. For anyone he has killed, well they just wake up dead in the morning.   
> His saves are random. Sans cannot control when or where he saves.


	8. Meet Your Enemy

Frisk sighed from their spot by the fire. They had walked back to the camp without any events occurring, but after they had gotten back Toriel had practically demanded on where Sans had taken them. Papyrus had been more worried about his brother to truly care where Frisk had went, but Undyne looked about ready to kick Sans's bony ass.  
  
Now they were sitting by the fire and waiting to see when the short skeleton would return to the camp. Frisk's mind went back to before the glitch, where after Sans had woken up and teleported away after getting healed by Toriel.  
  
And the fact he hadn't come back.  
  
Papyrus had practically gone out of his mind with worry as the day had passed and Sans hadn't returned. Everyone had helped to look, and they hadn't found a trace of Sans. They had all watched as Papyrus became much like Sans, though not as lazy. Just quieter, more hidden, faking smiles. It was about two weeks after Sans had gone missing when Papyrus burst out of his tent in the early morning and screeched about Sans's dying. They had all watched as Papyrus glowed his eyesockets, and watched as the blue side flaked away until it was nothing, leaving a lone orange pupil. A day later, the glitch in time happened.   
  
The silence around the campfire told Frisk that everyone else was lost in their own thoughts. The concerned look on everyone's faces told them that they were all thinking about Sans, but Undyne just looked angry. That was probably expected; Undyne did say earlier that she wanted to wreck Sans.  
  
Frisk's thoughts wandered from the silence around them. Letting out a breath, Frisk shuffled their feet and shook their hair. Why was life so complicated? it was better when they were able to RESET and start everything all over again. Though, Frisk thought, Sans would remember. Sans always remembers.  
  
It really made Frisk regret those genocide runs. They could still remember what Sans had said on the final of the twenty-seven.  
  
"say, frisk." He had spoken on the bridge to Snowdin, where he would normally warn them against fighting Papyrus. "you've really fucked up this timeline, eh?"  
  
"well. . . don't let me stop you. just let it be known that we're not friends anymore. more like. . . hated enemies."  
  
And Sans had killed her right then and there. Bones through their hands, feet, and then their chest and face.   
  
He then wasn't there when Frisk had reset and gotten back to that point.  
  
Clearing their mind, Frisk stood up and said loudly, "I'm going to go read a book." and ducked into their tent shared with Toriel.

* * *

_Sans was sure that he would be in the judgement hall for this nightmare, so he really wasn't expecting to find himself sitting on the old green couch in his house. "what?" He muttered, looking over to see that Chara was sitting next to him, flipping through the single channel on the tv._  
  
_" **Nothing to watch, Like usual.** " She huffed, before turning to Sans. " **It took you long enough to fall asleep, Comedian.** " Chara flipped off the TV and casually threw the remote into the wall, breaking it. " **Metalbutt is a horrible actor.** **I don't know how the underground stood him.** "_  
  
_The Silence stretched between them after Sans stopped talking, staring at Chara with his eyes alight. "so. . . this is strangely not-murdery of you?" He questioned after sitting there for five minutes._  
  
_Chara giggled, the blacks of their eyes dripping slightly. " **Oh, the only way to talk with you is to not act like a psycho, you know?** " She lifted her hand, flicking it idly as if twirling a knife. " **I used to make paper knives as a child, you know. I really was quite crafty.** "_  
  
_Sans felt his eyesocket twitch, the cold air in the nick still there. He was surprised how cold he felt in his old home after being on the surface for a single night. ". . .how does that have to do with anything here, demon?" Sans asked, shifting int a more comfortable position as he realized this wouldn't such a bad dream. . . yet. "i was a very. . . scientific child."_  
  
_The two looked at each other for a moment before Chara shrugged. " **I'm bored of the chitchat.** **S** **o i'm going to tell you this. When you wake up Comedian, I want you to kill yourself.** "_  
  
_"what." Sans said, not completely processing the child's words. "you want me. . . to kill myself?" He fared up his eye, stiffening. "what game are you getting at here, exactly?"_  
  
_Chara rolled her eyes. " **Calm down, Really.** " The demon huffed. " **Your last save was in Alphy's tent, so you shouldn't go back too too far.** "_  
  
_Sans stretched his eyesockets wide, understanding dawning. "my theory was right? wait. . ." He narrowed them again at Chara. "why am i able to?"_  
  
_Chara glanced at Sans. " **My determination has been mingling with your ever since I took an interest to you. These lucid nightmares? All me. The Partial resets from your death is because I gave you enough Determination into your SOUL.** " The child tapped their face, a small grin splitting it. " **While you're at it, might as well try out that human soul.** "_  
  
_The staring contest Sans found himself in was cut short by Chara yawning and stretching. " **Oh, and if you don't. well, Frisk wasn't the one to kill you. So I'll just snag your body and do it for you.** " _  
  
_A low growl came from Sans, the small skeleton unable to stop it. "i thought you said you didn't want to be all psycho-y. damn kid, you jump from place to place don'tcha?"_  
  
_Chara had twisted over while Sans was talking and now she held up a jar full of a red liquid that looked more viscous than water. " **I'm trying to think if I really want to do this to my brand new partner, but. . .** " She uncapped the jar with a wide, goopy smile and turned to Sans. " **Well, It's not a lucid nightmare until you add the nightmare.** "_  
  
_Sans hardly had time to react before Chara had pushed him into the couch and the jar to his teeth. The red liquid turned out to be blood, as Sans discovered while trying horribly to not swallow it. "whmm hhhee fffffnnk?" he tried to yell through the jar, only to have Chara grip his jaw and yank it open, forcing the liquid into his magic flow._

* * *

Sand gasped awake, feeling horribly sick. "btthurr?" he mumbled, opening his eyesockets to find himself lay down in one of Grillby's booths, a blanket draped over his frail form. "whhmr?" he mumbled again, struggling to get his arm under him. _The kids not actually going to make me do that, right?_ his mind murmured to himself, as Sans finally got his arm under himself and he managed to sit up. Grillby's was mostly empty now, with only Drunk Bunny in their normal booth. Sans tried to focus his eyelights, wondering casually if they looked about as fuzzy as his sight was.  
  
Grillby was at the bar, cleaning it off like normal and apparently not seeing that Sans was awake. Sans blinked several times at his fiery form before looking down at the blanket and getting his soul to stop quavering. It started again when Sans remember his dream fully though, and the small skeleton immediately looked around to look for Chara. _**You don't have to do that, you know.**_ Her voice chided from across the table. _**Now, remember what I said? Go get a knife.**_  
  
He almost yeeted himself over the back of the bench, but calmed down slightly once the fading echoes left. Turning, he slid his way out of the booth and stumbled slightly. Looking up from his feet, he saw Grillby approaching. " _You had a massive panic attack._ " Grillby said, picking up Sans by putting his arms under his armpits and lifting. " _It was terrifying._ " The bartender admitted. " _Old friend. . . who is supposed to be a bad dream?_ "  
  
His eyelights flickered out. "Nonone grilbsz." Sans mumbled, reaching up to scratch the back of his skull. "nonne at aslls." Giving Grillby the best 'i'm really tired can i have some food stop pestering me you impudent fuck' smile he had and stretched his feet downwards. "srry if me scared yaas."  
  
Grillby looked over Sans and put the skeleton down. " _I think it best to call Papyrus. Wait here, Sans._ "  
  
When the walking fare had left, Sans rubbed at his eyesockets and looked around some more. **_If you don't find a knife, Comedian, I'll just summon one up for you._**  
  
Sans's smile turned into a frown. He was decently sure his confusion showed, but confusion turned to horror at Chara's ghostly appearance, holding a very solid-looking knife out to Sans. His from turned into a very scared looking face. _You don't expect me to go through with this?!_ He screamed mentally at Chara, taking the knife and pointing it at the ghostly demon. _I'm not going to test my theory like this?!_  
  
Chara smiled at Sans, hands tucked neatly behind her back. _**Well, if you won't I will**_ , She told him, holding out a different knife threateningly.   
  
Sans held up his hands to try and calm down the demon, pressing the knife against his sternum in preparation for what he was about to do. _Oh god what am I doing all this because I'm trying not to be killed by someone else what's the difference_ His mind rambled on without him, As Sans took several deep breaths and with each one pushed the knife down harder, watching Chara's eyes grow wider and her smiled wilder.   
  
" _Sans?!"_ A yell from behind him made Sans turn, dropping the knife with a start. Chara vanished, leaving Sans alone to face a very, very, very scared looking Grillby. " _What were you about to do?!_ " the bartender said, rushing forward to kick the knife away from Sans and pull the skeleton away from all the other shard objects behind his bar.   
  
All he could do was stare at Grillby, his eyelights finally focused. "i wzz. . ." he paused, looking over at the knife. He could see Chara standing next to it, waving with the same smile. "i wazz. . . tessting a thhherry." he finally said, shuffling his feet. Now he would gladly deal a deadly wound to himself. Anything to get Grillby to stop looking at him like that. "ssss really no biggie, budddo."  
  
Silence stretched between them before Grillby deftly picked up Sans and held the skeleton tightly, almost driving the air from his lungs. " _No, that didn't look like a theory._ " Grillby stated, in an almost growl. " _I'll bring you to Papyrus myself, then. The Ferry is still active._ "   
  
Sans felt his eyesocket twitch, glowing pupils flicking back and forth between Grillby, the knife, and Chara.   
  
Grillby walked out of the bar and up to the ferry, taking the ride.   
  
It was a very uncomfortable ride, with Grillby constantly pulling Sans to his side and huddling away from the splashes of water. It was a blessing when they reached hotland and walked through the two elevator's. Sans kept pushing at Grillby's arms to try and get him to loosen his grip, but to no avail. Finally, they reached the area where the barrier used to be and stepped through into sunlight. Papyrus was waiting.   
  
"MR GRILLBY!" Papyrus called, "YOU DID NOT NEED TO BRING MY BROTHER TO ME! THANK YOU ANYWAYS!"  
  
A silence stretched as Grillby seemed to prepare himself, shuffling his feet and patting Sans's back. Sans himself was getting aggravated with the constant patting, trying to push away from Grillby more desperately than before.  
  
That was, before a cold hand gripped around his soul and all Sans could do was hang there limply as control of his limbs left him. _W_ _hat's happening?_ he wanted to say, but his jaw wouldn't move. _Papyrus? Grillby? Why can't I move my body?!_ All the sounds around him faded, out, of Grillby taking a deep breath and beginning to talk hesitantly to the beaming Papyrus.   
  
When the hand around his soul left, Sans found himself able to see and hear again, but the control of his body wasn't released to him yet. . .but he could feel his fingers moving slowly. "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Papyrus's shrill voice sounded. "SANS WOULD NEVER DO SOMETHING SO STUPID! ESPECIALLY NOT AFTER REACHING THE SURFACE!" concern laced his brother's voice.  
  
The silence between the fire and the skeleton grew until Sans pushed away from Grillby harder than he had been trying to for the entire trip. The Elemental stumbled back, Sans landing heavily on his back and Papyrus staring on with unmasked confusion.   
  
"mn not doing this!" Sans yelled through clenched teeth, finding control of his jaw and spitting out the words through a struggle. Magic gathered in his hand and Sans picked himself up, wiping his jacket off. When he tried to speak again, the wrong words came out in a voice that definitely wasn't his.  
  
" **Well, that took a bit more effort than I originally thought.** " 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I FEEL LIKE THIS HAS NO FLOW ANYMORE HAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH


	9. Accidental Posting so have 4 Paragraphs

Chara straightened in Sans's body looking from the shocked face of Papyrus to Grillby and back again with a smile stretched wide over his face. " **Oh, What's with those looks~?** " The Demon in Sans;s body giggled, genuinley enjoying the horror building inside of Sans's soul and the faces of his companions. They held out his hand and summoned a Knife, only to hold up a sharpened bone. " **Ah, Yes. Our abilities differ. . .I wonder, how else can I use them?** "  
  
A Surge of horror washed over her, followed by Sans trying to regain control, causing Chara to giggle again. louder. more insanely. She didn't say anything to him, only flick the bone to rest on the side of his smile. She Would've dragged out the moment with talk longer, to try and see how powerful Sans's ability to resist her was, but She felt a sudden burning sensation in his soul and frowned. Checking the comedians stats, She frowned. " **Tch, even with Thirteen LOVE you're still too weak to handle my possession for longer than ten minutes.** " She tch-ed again. " **Well, there's nothing I can do about that-** " She broke off to try out one of Sans's shortcuts to be behind grillby, landing a bit closer than she intended but still far enough away. " **- _So why not have a little bit of Fun~?_** "  
  
The pure horror coming from Sans made her smile widen, bringing the bone down and across Grillby's back, tearing his nice clothes and slicing through the rocky flesh hidden underneath the flames. The fire monster cried out in pain, falling to his knees. She raised the bone to deal the killing blow, sending up blue-and-white bones all around the two to keep 'The great Papyrus' from intervening. When she attempted to bring it down, Sans's hand began to shake. " **What?** " Chara snarled, forcing his arm down harder. The shaking increased. " **Stop resisting me!** " She screeched out from his mouth, inching the bone downwards bit by bit, slowly winning the near invisible battle with Sans.  
  
And then she won, plunging the bone down and straight through one of Brillby's shoulders. It wasn't the death blow she wanted, but it made her glow with a satisfaction she had never felt before. Pulling the bone free of Grillby's shoulder, she stepped on both the wounds and shifted her attention to Papyrus. Grillby cried out from underneath Sans's feet as they made their way slowly over to Papyrus, lowering the wall of bones. But before she could speak, Chara found herself a good distance away from either Papyrus or Grillby. Sans's voice was torn from her lips, "s...stop... it..." And a searing pain followed with it, making Chara abandon controls and leave Sans to the suffering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FACK
> 
> well ig have these four paragraphs


	10. This isn't Good

Sans gasped at the pain as he was back in control of his own body, toppling onto his side as his vision blurred. He could faintly see Grillby in a growing puddle of his leaking magic and Papyrus pulling his phone out. Maybe using his magic to teleport his body while trying to leave his own soul out of it was a bad idea.  
  
He struggled to his feet, his jacket hanging off lopsidedly. The bone was still gripped in his hand, Grillby's shining orange-red almost liquid flames dripping off of the sharpened point. He looked at it, then at his chest, then at Papyrus. He was well aware that his own magic couldn't kill him, only leave him at about 0.0002 HOPE. . . unless he could get it through his soul. Sans wasn't an idiot, though. He couldn't summon his soul out of his ribcage unless he was feeling perfectly calm or safe, and Sans sure as hell would never feel like that again.   
  
Gaze darting around again, Sans began limping towards Grillby, the pain gradually fading. He stopped about halfway there. He could only undo the damage Chara had done in his body through a reset. . . Which he only knew how to initiate through death. Sans assumed that was what Chara wanted. . .So in this case, they'd get what they want. Looking down at the sharp bone in his hands, Sans looked between Grillby and Papyrus, making sure Papyrus was too busy on the phone to see what he was doing. Grillby seemed to be staring right at Sans, but unable or unwilling to make sounds.  
  
_Should I really give into Chara's wants?_ Sans's mind started to say as he raised the bone and positioned it so that it wouldn't have to break through any of his ribs completely to reach his soul. _As far as I know, this was all just a huge coincidence that I died before the partial reset.  
  
  
_Sans shook his head slightly, looking at Papyrus again. _Its worth the risk if it means Papyrus doesn't remember._ He decided, gripping the bone tighter in his hands. With a swift jerk and a barley muffled cough-scream of pain, The bone cracked through the center of one of his ribs and plunged right through his cracked soul, shattering it. He fell over onto his side, Sans looking up at the clear blue sky as blood from the shards of his soul and rib dripped down and soaked into his jacket. A loose smile made its way onto his face, and Sans watched the world go black around him as numbness snuck its way into his limbs and mind, the faint sound of Papyrus's voice fading. 

* * *

Sans gasped awake, yet again in the cot. A pain was all he felt where his soul was, and when he sat up with a muffled moan he looked down to see that even though his health was full and his rib healed, the damage to his soul was still very much there. A large hole had been gouged into the little upside down heart, cracks spiraling outwards from it.  


A tense smile reached his face, and he sat up to push his shirt back down, covering the human soul hovering close to his own. "don' wan anyone seeing ya," He mumbled, sliding off the cot and supporting himself on it. "and i really. . . really, don't want to do that again." he stumbled towards the tent entrance, pain lacing all of his steps. "i. . . don't think i'd survive to the next partial through it, anyways. . ." He muttered, remembering the dull glow and magic flaking off from his soul.  
  
Stepping out of the tent, Sans was confronted with the others all eating breakfast. He wandered over, hiding the pain the best he could under a smile and a slow walk. His eyes picked out the concerned faces of everyone, especially Toriel and Alphys. "g'mornin, everyone," Sans said quietly, not trusting his voice to not shake if he spoke louder. Sitting down next to Papyrus, he accepted a bowl handed over from Asgore with a hum. Sans did his best to ignore the fact everyone was looking at him, but it was getting progressively more difficult.   
  
Finally, Sans was peeved enough to pull the spoon from his mouth and stare around at the others. "yes?" he asked, managing to keep the shake from his voice when he spoke up. He was tired of the looks they were giving him, anyways. He was going to snap something at them about staring before he remembered that before his partial reset, Sans has been coughing blood. "oh. yeah. i'm fine, guys. really." Sans made a show of stretching, even though his soul and bones yelled at him to not. "sometimes my nightmares get bad. it's no biggie."  
  
The group shared looks. "Sans, it isn't normal for monsters to have nightmares at all, nonetheless bleed." Toriel said, matter-of-factly. "Monsters don't have enough physicality to bleed."   
  
Alphys nodded several times, wreathing her hands and stuttering over words before managing to speak. "Th-there aren't a-any know ways o-of increasing a m-m-monster's p-physicality. D-DT only l-lo-lowers it." She looked down at the ground, then up at Undyne, who nodded at her. "i-if they have e-e-enough re-resistance to th-the soul t-trait, th-then sure, t-they could survive a low o-or a v-very low c-c-concentrated d-dose, e-enabling bleeding a-and an e-extreme amount of m-magical p-power at the c-cost of HP. E-enough DT a-and amalgams f-form."  
  
Sans shifted. Suddenly, the conversation was even worse. "yeah, alph, i studied dt with you too." He frowned heavily, scratching at his sternum. "but i don't know what you're theorizing about with me, though." He sent a look her way, then around the rest of the campfire until everyone refused to look at him. A huff escaped him teeth as Sans slowly stood up, scooting away from the fire. "now that that's over, i'm going to leave."  
  
"WAIT!" Papyrus shrilled at him. "WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" He stooped and picked up Sans, his face becoming fearful when Sans couldn't stifle a gasp of pain. "ARE YOU HURT?! WHEN DID YOU GET HURT?!"  
  
"I'm not hurt, papy." Sans replied, forcing his eyelights back into being. "just stiff. think i got seeds in my joints. you know how that can hurt." He shifted his hands in his pockets. "i was gonna head down to some stream to wash em' out."  
  
Papyrus gave Sans a very unconvinced look and placed his brother down gently. "OKAY. . . DON'T BE LONG! WE WERE GOING TO GO TELL THE OTHER MONSTERS IT IS SAFE TO EXIT MOUNT EBOTT!"  
  
Sans gave him a double thumbs-up and silently plead that no one would check him until he could do something about the soul. . . and the sorry state of his own. Turning away, Sans started towards where he knew a stream twisted through the rocks.  
  
When he reached it he stuck his fingers in the frigid water and called out the soul, staring at it. "what am i going to do with you, buddy?" he asked, slowly sitting down to hope his legs stopped shaking. It didn't work. "if i'm honest here, i hoped you'd go back to your body this time through."  
  
The soul didn't respond; of course it wouldn't. It was a soul without a body. How would it physically respond to him?   
  
"i don't want the others t'find out bout'cha though," Sans continued on, unsure of why he was talking but knowing it felt good to say _something_. "that'b he hard enough to explain on its own. but the love too? near impossible." He slouched, pulling his hand from the icy water and shaking the droplets out. "i could always throw ya into the stream, but i'm not a monster. you're probably still aware inside. . . this." he gestured vaguely. "i could also absorb you, but that causes physical changes i might not be able to hide."  
  
He sat there for a few more minutes before giving a dirty look to the stream. "i should bathe anyways, but i don't want to."  
  
Sans got undressed and into the water either way, shivering as the freezing water flowed around his bones. He left his clothes on a rock nearby and put up a thin magical barrier to prevent the water from touching either of the souls housed carefully in his ribcage. "cold, cold, cold," He muttered, his bones rattling as Sans slowly washed the dirt clinging to his bones off. It turns out he really did have echo flower seeds stuck in his joints, which he pulled out with a grimace and flicked away. Sans only halfway wondered how the seeds got there before getting out of the water.  
  
It was colder outside the stream and Sans shook the most water he could off before picking up his clothes and starting the short walk back to the camp. He didn't but them on yet, having nothing to be embarrassed about and wanting to dry off a bit more before putting on his favorite jacket.   
  
Slippers hanging from his fingers, Sans stepped over branches and roots with less and less pain the more he went. It didn't take long before he was in view of the camp and he got dressed, pulling his shirt over his head with only a slight bit of struggle as the fabric got caught on his fingers. Sans grunted slightly, freeing his fingers and sliding his jacket on as well before looking to see exactly why his fingers had gotten stuck.  
  
The ends of his fingers were pointed, instead of the rounded edge. They had a slight curve to them now, the points being rather sharp when Sans poked himself. "have my fingers turned into claws now?" He questioned, sitting on a rock and wiping at his still dripping skull. "ah geez, i've heard rumors about monsters with high love but i never thought they were true." He held his hand out to study it. "i hope papy doesn't notice. he's heard the rumors too."  
  
Getting up from the rock, Sans walked over to the camp, thankful that the pain from waking up had faded to a relative background. He could definitely tell it was there; It was like an aching tooth that wouldn't stop no matter what he did.  
  
"SANS!" Papyrus yelled almost the instant he was in view. "YOU ACTUALLY DID BATHE! I THOUGHT YOU WOULD JUST GO GALLIVANTING IN THE FOREST LIKE IN SNOWDIN." The lanky skeleton approached Sans and picked him up. "LADY ASGORE WAS JUST SAYING THAT WE SHOULD ACTUALLY ANNOUNCE OUR EXISTENCE TO THE HUMAN PEOPLE! BEFORE WE TELL THE MONSTERS! IT IS SAFE TO COME TO THE SURFACE!"  
  
"good idea," Sans replied, stuffing his hands in his pockets and curling his fingers. "they might react badly if over thirty new sentient species came to the surface."  
  
Papyrus put Sans down and raced back over to the others, excitedly yelling at them about the surface. It seems he hadn't gotten it all out yesterday.   
  
Sans watched idly, walking over to sit down by Alphys at the fire pit and rub his newfound claws together. Alphys glanced at him, but was otherwise silent, pushing her glasses higher up onto her face. Frisk was sitting across from Sans, giving him a death glare through their bangs and tapping their foot. Sans scowled back at them and kept his eye from flaring to life and damaging his eyesocket more. It had healed with the food and was now simply a darker smudge where a gash used to be.  
  
He jumped when Toriel placed a hand on his shoulder, able to sneak up on him as Sans dozed slightly. "oh. hey, tori, what's up?" He shifted to look at Toriel better, shifting on the dirt to better look at the large goat monster.  
  
"We are going to leave now," Toriel informed him. "Papyrus thinks you should come with us."  
  
Oh. "sure thing, tori." Sans replied, standing up. "i wonder how they'll react, though." He stretched, thankful that his shirt was a bit too big like everything else he wore. After the bath, he was able to move rather well without pain.  
  
Toriel watched, walking with Sans over to where the others were waiting. “I hope they react well,” Toriel replied after they reached the others. “I do not know how long it has been for the humans.” The large goat monster looked over and held out her hand, which Sans could see Frisk take.   
  
Sans hid his frown in his usual smile. As they walked towards the city, He realized that he was feeling apprehensive. His last encounter with humans was. . . Unpleasant, to put it lightly, even though it technically never happened. Light conversation was all around him, yet Sans didn’t join in. He really didn’t have anything to say. 

* * *

_It’s dark. . . Is death always this dark?. . ._  
  
_There’s a light next to me. . ._  
  
_It’s a warm light. . ._

_Maybe a few more minutes of sleep is good. . ._

  
  
_I wonder if he’ll talk to be again._

_He’s nice.  
_

_What am I thinking? He’s the one who killed me._  
  
  
_Why would he carry me around, then?. . ._  
  
  
  


  
  
_He’s warm. He can’t be bad if he’s warm._  
  
_The other soldiers always told me monsters were cold._

_I guess they were wrong.  
_

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. I'm orphaning the work after i post this chapter. I feel sorry for all the people who want more, maybe they can start writing it and i'll see how far it deviates from the original idea, i'm not sure.
> 
> Thank you for taking this journey with me, dudes and not-dudes

**Author's Note:**

> Oh bOii here I GOES!! Dude I feel like an overexcited temmie. This chapter is shorter than I thought it'd turn out, but the constant POV changes kinda caught up with me. Anyways!! I hope to hell that this is better than I feel it is.


End file.
